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Unbowed and UnafraidMon, 21 Jan 2019 17:56:07 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2At Sixes And Sevens At Asian 15s?http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2017/03/12/at-sixes-and-sevens-at-asian-15s/
http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2017/03/12/at-sixes-and-sevens-at-asian-15s/#commentsSat, 11 Mar 2017 19:00:46 +0000Adminhttp://www.thesundayleader.lk/?p=170098MINDFUL of the cardinal rule that national duty supersedes club interest, the SLRFU’s decision to advance the end of the last inter-club season by one month won acceptance with scarcely a murmur of protest heard. However, it now appears the SLRFU might well come to regret their decision – reasons for which we’ll take up for discussion in a while.

First though, let’s sketch the background against which the decision was taken last year to accelerate the end of the 2016-17 season to February-end, from the customary end-March closure. The reason for the change: make more time to allow for better preparation of the national squad for the country’s 2017 international program. Approaching the end of the first-round last December, a shorter second-round was suggested, but the clubs rejected the move, claiming it contravenes the laid down condition in the tournament’s laws that matches shall be conducted on a home-and-away basis – and effecting a change mid-season is unacceptable.

The SLRFU thus had really no other option but to squeeze the 56-match League and the seven-match Knockout competitions into 16 weekends between Nov. 4- Feb.26. This meant just one week-long break during the season, as opposed to the previous three week-long periods of rest. Of the three breaks, only the Christmas week was retained in SLRFU’s list of holidays; the traditional New Year break as well as the week-long ‘breather’ between the first and second rounds was dispensed with.

The new schedule of matches was punishing to say the least. Matches week in week out continually over four months can expose players to match fatigue before season’s end, not to speak of the potential for increased injuries. Never mind; no price is too great to pay for the cause of the country’s rugby – more so because quite a few of our past international campaigns have floundered due to insufficient preparations, thanks to the players’ allegiance to clubs, their paymasters, over country. That sort of misplaced loyalty rendered the SLRFU helpless to assemble a national training squad until the domestic season was over and done with at March-end; or more pointedly, a week or so before the start of our international program. The players’ loyalty issue [whether club or country should take precedence] is an old, threadbare story and renders superfluous a re-telling here.

So telescoping 63 matches into 16 weekends over four months instead of the previous allocation of 20 weekends over five months was in order, albeit causing painful discomfort to players. And the SLRFU considers this year’s international engagements as bearing special significance. Let’s first list out these campaigns that induced the Union to end the season a month ahead: 1/ the Borneo Sevens at Sandakan on March 18 and 19; 2/ World Series qualifier, April 7-9 in Hong Kong and 3/ Asian Fifteens Championship in Kuala Lumpur, April 16-22.

From the standpoint of enhancing Sri Lanka rugby’s international profile, all of the three overseas engagements are important– but none more consequential than the Asian Fifteens Championship. Let me explain why the other two events aren’t as important as the third. The Borneo Sevens, a new creation, is not a Real McCoy, meaning it is not a part of ARFU’s Asian Sevens Series, which is a line-up of three-four tournaments hosted by different countries during September- October. Being outside the ambit of the Asian series means that there’s no IRB world ranking points to be had from Borneo. As far as we are concerned, securing world ranking points is what our international campaigns are about, and the absence of that incentive makes the Borneo event pretty much a working holiday.

But as preparation for the World Series qualifier in Hong Kong, presence in Borneo bears much value – scheduled as it is three weeks prior to the high-profile Hong Kong event. The Borneo event presents our players their the first taste of Sevens rugby this season, and our performance there would surely show a need for smoothening out the rough edges before taking on opposition of far superior quality in Hong Kong. Coming after four continuous months of the fifteens game, flaws in our Sevens version are inevitable in Borneo – but with three weeks to mend the flaws, there’s reason to be hopeful of making a favourable impression in Hong Kong before a world audience and influential IRB officials.

But between making an “impression’’ and winning the solitary place in the next 10-tournament World Series is a chasm as wide as Timbuktu is from Colombo. The opposition is composed of the best of the world’s second-best Sevens rugby nations – the likes of Spain, Germany, Hong Kong and Kenya. Realistically, Sri Lanka would’ve done well if it ran close to any of its opponents; and one win in the World Series qualifier would … let’s just say, deserve a laying out of a gala welcome to the returning team, not excluding tom toms, trumpets and a ride on horsebacks from airport to the city. As for our chances of securing the solitary ticket to the next World Series is, of course, stuff which fairytales are made of.

Not so unrealistic, however, is our prospect of winning the Asian Fifteens Championships’ Div. 1 title. The opposition faced would be Asia’s second tier countries: Malaysia, Philippines and the UAE, not the continent’s powerhouses by any stretch of the imagination. It was this sort of opposition that we thrashed two years ago to become Div. 1 Asian Champions. But last year the title was surprisingly conceded to Malaysia, Sri Lanka suffering her first defeat by the Malaysians in the 47-year history of the Asian Rugby Championship. The presence of a host Fijians in the Malaysian team had a lot to do with the historic defeat, but that wasn’t the only reason: questionable preparations too were advanced as another reason, remembering that the Asian Fifteens campaign was undertaken close on the heels of our Sevens season.

With this year’s Asian Fifteens Championship following a week after the World Seven Series qualifier there’s a danger of last year’s disappointment being repeated. You have to remember that our players have been in training since the closure of the domestic season for the two upcoming Sevens events, the second of which is from April 7-9. So it’s fair to say that our top players would enter the April 16-22 Asian Fifteens Championship with the instincts and habits of Sevens rugby yet in their systems. You don’t need to be an expert’s explanation to differentiate Sevens from Fifteens – they’re as different as a gazelle is from a bison; the former represents swiftness and elegance and the latter raw strength and brutishness. To switch from Sevens to Fifteens isn’t press-button easy; it requires a change in both of mind and body – and that takes time. Whether a week of Fifteens preparation, especially after a six-week immersion in the Sevens version, is adequate to do battle in the Asian Fifteen Championship time will tell. Trapped in a similar situation last year, a week’s Fifteens preparation proved insufficient. Which begs the question: would it not have been prudent to let the timeframe of the domestic season be left unchanged? Had it remained as before, the season’s ending at the end of March, then our national players would enter the Asian Fifteens competition fresh after a full five months of fifteens rugby, in the domestic competitions.

Admittedly that can’t be the final settlement either to ensuring that we are represented by properly- prepared squads at the Asian Fifteens Championship. The problem faced is due to the absence of a separation of specialist Sevens and Fifteens players, with none in either group allowed to trespass into other, as is the case in countries pursuing serious international ambitions. In continuing to ‘borrow’ Sevens players from the Fifteens lot, as we do, can turn out to be something akin to that pithy native proverb: getting a donkey to do a dog’s job.

The Sri Lankan Rugby Sevens team missed a golden opportunity to qualify for the 2013 Sevens Rugby World Cup and had to settle for their third successive Plate trophy at the Singapore Asian Rugby Sevens tournament which concluded at the Singapore Cricket Club Grounds on Saturday.

The Coaching staff and officials on tour have done an excellent job to bring Sri Lanka’s rugby to the level where qualification for the World Cup was no longer a pipe dream but a very real possibility and yet it was probably their lack of foresight that cost Sri Lanka dearly.

Sri Lanka needed to win two out of their three first round games to progress to the Cup stage of the tournament and keep their chances of World Cup qualification alive. With Japan, Indonesia and South Korea in our group it was abundantly clear that Lanka’s hopes rested on being able to beat newcomers Indonesia and South Korea who we have beaten previously.

In their first game against Indonesia the Lankans breezed to an emphatic 52-0 win in a near perfect start to their campaign. The next game was against the Asian Champs Japan and as expected Sri Lanka were crushed 32-0 but the damage was even greater because two key players – skipper FazilMarija and winger DinushaChaturanga were injured.

As a result the Lankans had to play their crucial must-win game against South Korea without these two players and they were like a rudderless boat without Marija’s inspirational leadership.

It is easy to react in hindsight but perhaps resting Marija for the Japan game might have ensured that Sri Lanka had their best side fit for the game that really mattered.

To make matters worse it was clear to everyone that Sri Lanka was the better side and controlled more of the play and created more scoring opportunities which broke down due to Lanka’s inability to make quick decisions at crucial moments of the game.

With their World Cup qualification hopes dashed, the Lankans did extremely well to regroup and overcome Malaysia and China to emerge as Plate champions for the third successive time.

They put up an impressive display to overcome a strong Malaysian side 21-14 in the semi-final and then faced their Mumbai nemesis China in the Plate final.

The Lankans were quickly into their stride with Nigel Ratwatte continuing his impressive form with a neat try which was converted by Saliya Kumara for Lanka to lead 7-0.

China responded almost immediately with their first try but the conversion was missed and Sri Lanka stayed ahead 7-5.

Dinusha Fernando then crossed over to put the finishing touches to a good move and he was followed by Ratwattewho scored his second try of the game. With both tries being converted by Kumara Sri Lanka went into half time with a comfortable 21-5 lead.

After the resumption the game was evenly contested with no change in the scores until Chula Susantha put the issue beyond any doubt with Lanka’s fourth try. The conversion was missed but it did not matter as China was well and truly beaten.

The two best teams in the tournament – Japan and Hong Kong – contested the Cup final and a strong second half rally enabled Japan to overhaul a 0-12 deficit at half time to edge to a thrilling 14-12 victory.

With Japan and Hong Kong a cut above the rest and certain of qualifying for the World Cup, all interest centred on who the lucky third team would be and it turned out to be Phillipines who squeezed past South Korea 21-19 in the third place play-off to clinch a place at next year’s event in Moscow in June.

In the Bowl championship Thailand beat Kazakhstan 26-15 to clinch the trophy.

Chinese Taipei beat Sri Lanka 20-14 in the final of the Division II Youth Rugby Asiad match played at the Havelock Park on Saturdayto gain elevation to Division I next year.

Chinese Taipei points came from 1 goal, 2 tries and a penalty to Sri Lanka’s 1 try and 3 penalties. The winners led 13-11 at half time.

With this win Chinese Taipei will move to the Division I in 2013 and play along with top contenders Japan, Korea and Hong Kong. Sri Lankans were left to rue several missed opportunities of scoring and securing the win needed for elevation to Division I.

It has been party time at Havelock Park all week long as the new league champions of Club Rugby Havelocks Sports Club savoured their first taste of Champions status after a lapse of 31 years.
The league championship was actually decided two weeks ago when the Havelocks ‘ only other rival for the title – Navy SC was defeated by the Upcountry Lions team. However, the celebrations really began in earnest when the Havelocks beat their closest rivals Navy SC emphatically in the final game of the season to underline their worthiness to the title.
The moment Havelocks skipper Henry Terrence received the elegant Dialog trophy from Dialog CEO Hans Wijesuriya the celebrations were triggered off in style. When the victorious team returned to Havelock Park from Welisara the partying went on well into the next day.
Havelocks had been one of the pioneering rugby clubs in the country with a rich history and had been one of the leading clubs throughout the 60s and70s winning almost every championship at will.
However, during the last three decades they had seen their fortunes dip drastically owing to a combination of inability to find sponsors and therefore they were a less attractive proposition to young players. In addition they were forced to watch helplessly as many of their former players were lured away to other clubs leaving their cupboard bare.
The fortunes hit a nadir two years ago when they finished last in the A Division inter club tournament with just a solitary win against the CH & FC.
From that position the only was up and the club picked itself up last year with a marked improvement in their performance when the finished third in the league with six wins from 10 games.
This year they had a crop of last year’s schoolboy rugby stars turning out for them in addition to four senior players who joined them from other clubs. The presence of three overseas signings added the vital energy and experience to the team and helped form a very professional team ethic which was the catalyst for their successful campaign.
Their coaching team set very high standards and kept the players on their toes encouraging healthy competition for places in the side and constantly motivating them to set higher goals for themselves.
Coach Tavita Tulagaese and his able deputies Thusitha Pieris and Leonard de Zylwa and physical trainer Mothilal Jayatilleke were the livewires behind the scenes and much of the success is owed to their untiring work.

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Havelocks – Back To Their Glory Days!

By Hafiz Marikar

The jubilant team Havies team celebrate after clinching the title AND The Havies perform their version of the 'haka'

Havelock Sports Club is one of the premier rugby playing club in Sri Lanka, with a history of rich traditions and comrade. Known to be a family hub for all rugby enthusiasts in the Island. Havelock Sports Club is and will always be the home to foster friendship and camaraderie among people, rugby players around Colombo, boasting of a portfolio that incorporates many a Champion players, the Havies as it is synonymous in its simple yet elegant approach to fostering a spirit of true brotherhood through this great sport of rugby football is most encouraging.
Now that the League is over, the table leaders were found and the trophy is now housed in the first inter club champions club. The country’s oldest tournament the “Clifford Cup” is to be kicked off.
This Cup was introduced to clubs, for the first ever inter club championship in 1950. Havelock Sports Club which was founded in 1915, is a club who dominated the game of rugby, at one time they won the League on 11 occasions and shared once, besides they were the first to win the Clifford cup offered to the league champions.
This year, they enjoyed a good league season, their success did not come on a platter, it was talent, dedication, commitment, discipline and of course teamwork were the basic ingredients which contributed towards the success of the team. The Park Clubs magnificent exploits this season which culminated with an unprecedented league championship triumph, is a saga of how an immensely talented and youthful side quenched their thirsty for glory.
Although it took them 31 years to be crowned once again as the kings of local rugby arena, The young park club ruggerites brigade not only emulated the performances of their more illustrious predecessors who achieved this feat in consecutive seasons in the early years, but brought back reminiscences of their glory days with their traditional brand of fast open rugby.
Havelock SC success had to overcome a rebellion in the not too distant past when there was an exodus of stalwarts to other clubs. To the credit of this 97 year old club which has a cherished history in the field of rugby. Like the ruggerites on the field, the establishment instead of crumbling showed even greater resilience to bounce back with a vengeance. Like in any organization there has been a certain degree of planning. People who plan better are more successful in achieving their objectives. The soul searching began last season, they were prepared to take tough decisions being with the appointment of a captain not merely on seniority, he left them and the next captain too was the same on seniority. The Park club started preparing well ahead. They identified themselves as a team, coach, assistant coaches, management Board and players.
Bringing a team onto the field takes a great deal of administration, from there on the players take over. Their membership supported the club through thick and thin, together with their sponsors “The Finance and Nation Lanka Finance PLC.
The key men who worked behind the scenes with a team effort were the President Tyronne Coonghe, Roshan Deen, Thusitha Peries, Kapila Wijeratne, Amal de Mel, Eraj Fernando, Arosh Jayawardene, Rugby committee comprising of Rajive Perera, Mahdeva Edisuriya, A.R.S. Perera, Kapila Wijaratne, Then there was also the past presidents like Gamini Fernando and Y.C. Chang to lend a hand. Their coach Thulagasi “Lasga” Travita assisted by Thusitha Peries who did all the good work before Laga’s arrival, Leonard de Zilva and also not forgetting the master fitness trainer Mohtilal Jayatilake.
A big thank you should go to the Havelock SC committee for all the good things, all that was possible due to the backing coming from their sponsors who helped them to update their grounds, and also gave a big hand for the team, and brought in Laga Tavita as coach, all this helped them to reach the top after many years.
what was the secret behind their success this season which began with triumphs in the inter club, they only lost one game this season that was to former champions Kandy Sports Club.
Former CR & FC, Kandy SC and Sri Lanka coach cum player Laga Tavita took over the reins of coaching Havelock SC, helped by skipper Terence Henry; he was a super leader and a terrific player. He showed a lot of character, Some of the players who excelled were Samoans Autal Nisan, P. Sop[o, Tongen back division player William Hakalo, Ashen Karthelis, Mohamed Sheriff, Niroshan Fernando, Shenal Dias, Sandun Hearth, Chamra Dabare, Amjad BVuksh, Kavind Jayasena, Andreww Benson, Chama Vithanage,
Havelock SC who have been playing rugby for 97 years has a proud history. Not only they have produced several champion teams but have also provided the National team with most number of ruggerites over the last 50 years. At one time Havies was known as the cradle of club rugby. Some of the top players this club has produced are C.J. Senanayake, R.T. Vanculenberg, Robert Sourjah, E. Matthysz, V. Kelly, Allan Drieberg, S. Blake, R.Tucker, L.Ephrams, D.Ernest, Y.C.Chang, Dr.Hubert Aloysius, Dr. Harry Rasiah, Gamini Fernando, Maurice Silva, Tyronne Fryer, Maurice Fairweather, Maxim Flamer Caldera, Quentin Israel, Nimal Maralande, Ken de Joodt, Noel Brohier, Glen Vanlangenberg, Jeff and Dan Ratnam , Jupana Jayewardene, Denzil Kobbekaduwa, Raj and Jeyer Rodriguesz, Tyrone Holdenbottle, Timothy Lazarus, Gogi Tilakaratne, K. Sundaralingam, Jeffery and Travis de Jong, Hanzil Samad, Sandy Hameed, Omar Sheriff, Shafi Jainudeen, Hafi Abdeen, Ana Saranapala, Len Silva, Baba Sourjah, Desmond Harridge, Randy Pietersz, Hiran Fernando, Anton Benedict, Jurgan and Thajone Savangham, Lanil Tennakoon, Michael Jayasekara, Angelo Wickremaratne, Hisham Abdeen, Frank Hubert, P.L. Munasinghe, David Nicolle, Marco de Silva, Gavin Stevens, Orville Fernando, Royce Samaratunga, Chaminda Rupasinghe, Thustha Peries, Gram Raux, Nishantha Chanaka,, Kolitha Gunatilake, N.H. Karunasena, Aruna Uduwelagedera, Sanjeewa Jayasinghe, Ravi Ganapathy.
There may be many more names, these are the names which come to mind.

Preethi Jayawardena - Chairman The Finance Co Plc passes a rugby ball to the Havelocks team

Surprising everyone who had seen them at the bottom of the table a mere two years back, Havelocks Sports Club were crowned the new league Champions last week in a remarkable tale of guts and glory.
The champions were backed by The Finance Company PLC the 72 year old financial giant for the second year running.
Starting off the season this year, the club has acquired the services of a host of promising school leavers and foreign players and also had the services of four players who crossed over from a rival club. Coaches Thusitha Peiris, Leonard de Silva and Tulagi Tavita belief that this mix of fresh blood and international level experience would go a long way in moulding the team into an efficient fighting outfit turned out to be well founded as they turned up trumps winning the championship.
The club is the first Sri Lankan rugby football club in Sri Lanka with a proud history of 97 years. The sponsorship that has continued on to its second year extended by the first registered finance company in Sri Lanka, The Finance Company PLC, has been received with the promise of a good return this year in terms of rugby performance. Additionally the Club hopes to further improve on the quality of rugby played with the intent of providing their loyal supporters with even better performances. The Finance Company PLC, sponsors of Havelocks Rugby, has over 72 years of unmatched experience in the non banking finance sector serving the Sri Lankan public through a growing network of 60 branches spread islandwide.

Stalwarts of yesteryear pose with some of the present team, Team members atop the open bus during the parade AND The club celebrations in full swing

Havelock SC is celebrating its success in the league championship as if there’s no tomorrow. It has engaged in nightly socials for a whole week, a spectacular fireworks display last Saturday night and climaxed the celebration by parading its conquering team through town in an open double-decker bus last Sunday morning.
Even for a club that is traditionally reputed for hosting the best after-match socials, the prolonged celebrations since its confirmation as league champions on August 19 has to be one for the record books. Members of an older vintage, 50s through to early 80s, are not likely to approve all this excesses, but then they didn’t have to wait thirty-one years to see the league title brought to the clubhouse.
The last time the Havelock’s won the league was in 1981, under the captaincy of Angelo Wickremaratne. “Yes, there was a lot of merriment that night (in 1981) when we won the league, but I can’t recall any special event being held to commemorate the success – after all, in those days the Havelocks was that kind of place, you didn’t need a reason to party. So that night in 81 seemed pretty much another night of merriment,” said an older member.
“You have to remember that in ’81, prior to winning the league; the Havelocks won the Sevens title, and following the league success, went on to win the Clifford Cup knockout. Winning, so was something of a routine and no reason for special celebrations.”
Historically, in fact, success came routinely to the 1915-founded club. The Havelocks won the inaugural inter-club Clifford Cup tournament in 1950, led by Ian Labrooy. It won in 1951 too – and in both years the Havelocks goal was never crossed by its opponents. The 50/51 teams team included the four Aldon brothers, all of whom were three quarters; among the others were Dr. C O Foenander, Eustace Matthysz and Dr Bob Sourjah. The 1951 but that was the last of its successes in the 50s.
It came out of the slump in early 60s, thanks mainly to a crop of fine young players from Trinity turning out up for the club Among the enlistments of young Trintians was Ken de Joodt, 1959 Trinity skipper. “We were to join the CR and in fact attended practices there. We of course weren’t expecting a red carpet welcome at Longden Place, but neither did we expect to be given a ball and asked to practice on own behind the goal line,” recalled de Joodt. “We were young and had minds of our own – and decided we weren’t going to play for a club where we were made to feel unwelcome.”
The Havelocks had then been pretty much something of an Old Peterites club, including as it did a majority of schoolboy players from St Peters. “Trintians rarely joined the Havelocks, but to have some half dozen of them all at the same time was a bonus,’’ said Bently Barsenbach, a 60s player.
It was more than a bonus; it was the finest package of yesteryear schoolboy talent that could’ve landed at the door of any club: Nimal Maralande, Mike de Alwis, Ken de Joodt, Nihal Dias de Singhe, Vernon Boteju and Ana Medonza
Not long after their entry, the Havelocks ended a 10-year drought when in 1961, under the leadership of Dr Hubert Aloysius, it won the Clifford Cup. The 60s, in fact, was Havelocks most glorious period, winning the league in 61, 63 (captain Lorenz Sumanasekera), 64 (Dickey Jayatilleke), 67 (Gamini Fernando), and 68 (Noel Brohier) – i.e. five successes in 10 years. The 70s also produced five successes: 70 joint champions with the Police (led by Jeff Ratnam), 74 (Desmond Harridge); 76 (Thajone Savanghan); 77 (Jeff de Jong) and 78 triple champions (Anton Benedict).
In 1980 (Frank Hubert) won the knockout but not the league, while in the mid-80s (under M F Sally) and in 2002 (Shafi Hassan) the President’s Trophy compensated for the loss of the league.The wait for the league, however, has been 31 years – so a little bit of insanity in the celebrations is excusable.

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Dialog Axiata’s Commitment To Sport

Commitment to sporting excellence is an extension of Dialog Axiata’s dedication to enriching Sri Lankan lives and enterprises, exemplifying the difference corporate assistance can make to producing quality sporting talent. Thus, Dialog been closely associated with school cricket, rugby, volleyball, football and rowing and has sponsored national contingents to international events including the Olympics, Paralympics, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, Asian Athletic Championships and SAF Games. Dialog Axiata PLC Head of Group Brands, Ahmed Irfan talked to Ashwin Hemmathagama about Dialog’s involvement in Sri Lankan Rugby

Q – What is Dialog’s policy and vision on sports?

A - As a company as well a brand Dialog always believed in sports where company strongly propagates inclusivity. Even when we launched the telco service when the mobile phones were in the domains of exclusivity – expensive device to own and use, our philosophy was it was one of the great enablers and levelers. We always believed that technology should be inclusive rather than exclusive. Dialog made it accessible and affordable to anyone. So, we believed that inclusivity has to be there in all what we do. Sport is a great leveler helping people to participate in several ways – either playing the game, support the game, or enjoy the game. That is why throughout the years our involvement with sports became strong.

Q – What are the sports Dialog sponsored in the past?

A - We have sponsored the national volleyball and football leagues for the last seven years. National cricket was also sponsored for two years starting 2005. So, our view with regards to sports is not to be a passive sponsor but to uplift the ports, follow the sports, drive a level of overall improvement for the sport. Every sport we sponsor, we have a very clear vision helping it to achieve a certain goal. If you look at national football it has experienced a remarkable growth in several aspects – followers of the leagues, standards of the players and coaches. So, through that inclusivity we drive the overall betterment. Rugby is our newest forays into sport sponsorship.

Q – Why rugby when there are many other sports in Sri Lanka that can be sponsored?

A - Rugby is nothing new to us where we have sponsored the mercantile rugby for the last seven years. We see a huge potential in rugby in Sri Lanka. While cricket is enjoying lot of prominence in the global arena, we believe that Sri Lanka can make massive strides even with rugby. We got good players and coaches, capabilities, and the skill. This year when SLRFU approached us for partnership, we saw it fulfilling a few criteria. SLRFU has a vision for rugby in the island – a clear five year plan and includes the possibility in playing at the 2016 Olympics, and a realistic step by step programme. Gone are the days where club rugby was a one horse race. With foreign players coming to Sri Lanka, they bring in different standards to the game. So, our vision again was that more people need to play rugby and more needs to watch rugby. We have partnered for five years with SLRFU to drive rugby as the next big sport in Sri Lanka. We are sponsoring the Dialog league, Dialog Clifford Cup knockout, and sponsor the national team of Sri Lanka. Next to cricket, rugby will make the next impact on the global arena for us. Engaging in sports reflects our brand philosophy in terms of inclusivity. So, we go after rugby, football, and volley ball.

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Havelock Rugby Turning A New Leaf

Havelock Sports Club was the first rugby football club in the island established by locals and boasts of a proud history spanning 97 years. After being a leading team for decades the club went through a sad slump in form and fortunes. With the recent sponsorship extended by Nation Lanka Equities and its champion status restored, Havelocks is set to revive its halcyon days again. Havelocks rugby coach Thusitha Peiris chatted briefly to Ashwin Hemmathagama

Q – What went wrong in Havelock rugby?

A - Out of the 97 years history Havelock was dominating Sri Lanka rugby for some 60 years. But things started to change in the 80’s with the club going through a very bad patch. We were unable to win much major trophies due to a lot of reasons. Some players receiving lucrative deals and moving out of the club was one key reason for this downhill trend. We started losing games. So, by 2009 we have hit the rock bottom in Havelock rugby. In the absence of decent talent we were unable to form a proper side. No sponsor was coming to back us when we were at the bottom. So, we all sat down and decided the next step inviting all the former players to rally round the club and to help us to put a proper structure in place. The aim is to take the club to its glory days by 2015 when we are to celebrate our 100 years. The restructuring process started in 2009. By 2010 we were able to build an average squad what I call a decent side.

Q – What were the changes made in the system?

A - We were looking at attracting school leavers, who were not coming our way for a long time. Obviously no school leaver will like to join the bottom side. We managed to get some youngsters from school with the help of the Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union. Now we have Rizwan Meedin and Sandun Herath from St. Peters’ College, Andrew Benson and Malitha Danushka from Science College, Chamara Dabare and Lahiru Pavithra from Royal College, Shenal Dias and Mithun Hapugodage from Air Force, and Ashen Karathelis, Mohamed Sheriff, Niroshan Fernando, and Cpt. Terrance Henry from CR & FC. We lacked game finishers, who are born with that skill. There are rugby players who are good at practice or at games. But game finishers are rare but necessary.

Q – How did foreign expertise helped to develop the team?

A - Adding more to it we grabbed the opportunity given to ‘bottom clubs’ to get two foreign players. This wouldn’t have been possible if sponsorship was not there. This year, we have all necessary players finishing the puzzle along with a foreign coach from Samoa. He is well known as Laga although the actual name is Tavita Tulagaese. Laga has been in Sri Lanka for over 10 years and knows our culture and the system. Mothilal Jayathilake looks after the conditioning part of the boys. We train all seven days of the week with at least 12 sessions. This is also a part of our route to success.

Q – So, where will Nation Lanka fit in the equation?

A - Rugby has become a very expensive game. It is difficult to form a good side without money. So, things started to turn around with Nation Lanka joining hands as the sponsor. Before Nation Lanka came in, we had infrastructure issues also. So, they came forward to put up a grand stadium, a first class move. A member walking into the club after many years will be stunned to see these developments. Havelock is the first Sri Lankan club established when all other clubs were formed by the foreigners. Locals were comfortable with the Havelocks. In the absence of the permanent lease the club house was kept in an old railway carriage, which was moved from place to place in the good old days. Now the crowd from the Thimbirigasyaya and the suburbs are gathering around the club that had a doubt over its very existence.

In the good old day’s schools rugby was a prestigious competition where only a handful of schools participated in the game which was considered an elite game played at the highest spirits with the parent body the Ceylon Rugby Football Union (now known as SLRFU) being the custodian of the sport in Sri Lanka. During this time Club rugby was in vogue and played at the highest levels with huge crowds to witness all games, in particular the Colombo Clubs and Planting sector Clubs were on top with the Mercantile sector most of them Britishers promoting the game.
This promoted the schools sector to spread the game to all parts of the provinces as the need to produce good rugby players to represent the club was a requirement. In the good old days a rugger player’s first choice was planting after the school career.
During this time the Ceylon Rugby Football Union introduced a trophy for the schools sector as known as the “Gratien Cup” where after the schools rugby season the provincial unions selected the elite rugby players from their schools to represent the Colombo and Outstations schools rugby clash. Thereafter, the Ceylon Rugby Football Union decided to select the best players from this encounter and select a Combined Schools team from the cream of the players.
The first encounter was played on the 9th August 1958 at Longdon place. Teams that represented the Colombo schools were drawn from Royal, St. Peters, St. Josephs, Thurstan, Wesley and Zahira and for the Outstation Schools drawn from Trinity, St. Anthony’s, St. Thomas” Mount Lavinia and Dharmasoka – Ambalangoda. Unfortunately, Daharmasoka that year were not been able to play much rugger, owing to the emergency and the curfew.
At this game the best players from the schools represented the game and the elite Mercantile and Plantation companies selected their trainee’s executives from the schools to their establishments. In that first ever game, Royal and Trinity provided ten players each, for the teams. There was another trophy called the Tyrell Muttiah, which the juniors at school level played, later in was presented to the winner at the schools sevens, that tournament too is no more.
In a good game of run and pass rugby, the Colombo Schools failed to match the Outstation counterpart and failed to score a single point in answer to the thirteen points scored by the Outstation Schools off two goals and a penalty goal. On the run of play there had been not that much of difference in the quality of play of the two teams.
What really had happened, in his game, that Colombo side were badly served by some key-players and no amount of sterling hard work by their excellent pack could atone for the fact that chance after chance of scoring was thrown away. The architects of Colombo’s misfortunes were their halves; Outstation Schools playing a better game were able to win.
There forwards had combined well and they had made every effort to see that their threes moved the ball. The Outstation Schools halves combination of Denzil Kobbekaduwa and Nimal Maralande worked well and Mike de Awls the hooker of the winning team got the ball seven times out of ten scrums, in the line outs it was 50-50. Skipper Ken de Joodt was responsible for seven of his side’s points by his place-kicking and initiated the movement which ended in one of the tries, another three points.
His Kicking was excrement, as good as the best seen that season. Peterite N. Dharmaraja who placed two penalties missed both. The two tries for the winning side came from scrum half Denzil Kobbekkaduwa and hooker Mike de Alwis,
Colombo Schools team was made out of S.M. Rajasingham (Wesley), F.I. Pereira (Royal), A. Anghie (St. Peters), M.A. Rankie (Royal) C. Direckez (St. Josephs), M.L. Anghie (Royal), R.A. Pothuhera (Royal), L de Slva (Royal), Ken Balendra (Royal), C.J. Rajaratnam (St. Josephs), H.S. de Silva (Royal) R.H. Fernando (Royal), D.N. Fernando (Royal) R. Sivaratnam (Royal) (Captain). Reserves: – N.R. Perera (Wesley), A. Wickremarthne (Thurstan) and B. Senavirathne (St. Peters).
Outstation Schools - S. Soysa (St.Thomas), S.P de Silva (Trinity) Ken de Joodt (Trinity) – (Captain), P.A.Bultens (Trinity) B. Fairweather (St.Thomas), Nimal Maralande (Trinity) Denzil Kobekaduwa (Trinity) J. De de Singhe (Trinity), Mike de Alwis (Trinity), C. Joseph (St. Antony’s), Eric Roles (Trinity), D. Ferdinands (St.Thomas’) D. Hermon (Trinity), Larry Fernando (St.Thomas) D Janakiram (Trinity). Reserves:– M. Azain (Trintiy), S.Sinathamby (St.Thomas’) M.Abeyakoon (Trinity) M.A Perera (Trinity)

The Trinitians set up another attacking phase - Picture by Praveen Samarakone

It was that time of the year where all Royalists and Trinitians irrespective of where you are, get
together to witness the coveted ‘Bradby’ encounter between the two schools.

It was the 1st leg of the 68th encounter which was kicked off yesterday at the Royal Sports
Complex where Royal the only unbeaten team in the inter schools tournament were slight
favourites ahead of their rivals who had suffered one loss – a close game to St Peter’s early in the
season.

After an evenly contested first half and upto midway in the second the game remained evenly
poised with Trinity leading 13-8. However, in the last15 minutes or so the Trinitians posted 21
points through three goals with some powerful running aided by some luck and a Royal side
which seemed to have suddenly lost interest in the game.

Trinity scored 4 goals, 1 drop goal and a penalty to Royal’s 1 try and 2 penalties to blot the
latter’s unbeaten record this season..

Royal ran to the field making their intentions clear showing aggression earlier on but the
Trinitians stayed calm and it took only three minutes for the winners to add the first points on the
board through a brilliant 25m drop goal by Tharinda Ratwatte the Trinity fly half . 3-0.

Trinity dominated proceedings earlier on and scrum half Sanjaya Somasiri caught the Royal
final line of defense off guard and executed a perfect box kick down field getting his speedster
Darshana Udalagama to chase it and score the first try of the day which was converted with ease.
Just 15 minutes into the game and Trinity had a healthy 10 point lead.

Five minutes later, Royal’s Rimzi Jamaldeen closed the gap by putting over fairly easy penalty
and helped the home team to add the first points. 10 -3 and Thisila Devinda put over a penalty
for Trinity and extended their lead by 3 points 13-3. Trinity gave too many penalties away as
a result vice captain for Royal Iroshan De Alwis scored off a quick tap taken but Rimzi was
unsuccessful with the conversion to leave the scores at 13-8 at half time marking a disappointing
session for Royal who had more of the possession but could not make it count.

After the resumption Royal were continuously attacking yet not making much progress and a
few opportunities were squandered due to bad decision making by the Royal skipper to go for 3
unsuccessful drop goals. 20 minutes in the second half Thisila Devinda broke the line of defense
running a good 40m before he kicked a grubber for his wing three Lochana Girihagama who
failed to collect it cleanly and score.

It was Royal who dominated in the first 20 minutes of the second half before Trinity began their
late second half rally .Trinity had less possession and territorial advantage but they were always

dangerous with ball in hand and scored most times they came into the opposition 22m.

Ratwatte who had a brilliant outing managed to sneak his way through the Royal defense to
extend the lead 20-8 with Devinda’s conversion. With 10 minutes remaining Devinda took
an ambitious 45m penalty and nearly succeeded but it hit the posts and Trinity scored an
opportunistic try off the rebound. Udalagama chased after the rebound and caught the Royal
defense napping yet again to score and Devinda added the extra points with a well struck corner
flag conversion. 27-8 and surely the game had got away from the Royalists with 5 minutes left in
the clock.

However Trinity were not over yet, Sanchan Shiek the winger coming off the bench showed his
class scoring a brilliant try dragging a good 3 defenders with him to the try line.34-8 and Royal
scored the last points of the game with a consolation penalty put over by Rimzi Jamaldeen. 34-
11 at the final whistle and Trinity had displayed scintillating rugby and had come together with a
superb team effort to emerge victorious.

Royal on the other hand have lots to think about and will have to play exceptionally well in the
2nd leg, as at the moment the regaining the Bradby looks a daunting task. Ratwatte, Udalagama,
Devinda ,Halique Wadood and Somasiri were outstanding for Trinity.

Masters Advertising which has been associated with many brand building initiatives from Singer to Clogard to Audi, demonstrated a flair for sports marketing taking the campaign for this year’s Carlton 7s and their sponsors Sri Lanka Insurance Coporation and Mobitel out of the city to a rural audience.
The TVC which was shot in different parts of the country conveyed the excitement of the tournament against a Sri Lankan backdrop.
“The idea was to take ‘ownership’ of rugby and give it a Sri Lankan look and feel ” said Chaminda Gamage – Creative Director. Masters Advertising.
Masters Advertising’s involvement did not cease with the creation of the multimedia campaign but also extended on the ground’ with a specially designed float in the shape of a giant rugger ball for Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation, being taken to the different parts of the island , an initiative of Media Maps the event marketing arm of Masters Advertising.
The Hon Namal Rajapakse, the inspiration behind Carlton 7s, in his conversation with Ms. Dharshi Thambiah, Managing Director of Masters Advertising, stated that he was very pleased with the campaign created by Masters Advertising, and is really glad at the response to thencampaign especially amongst the youth in the rural areas.
Rajapakse, added “ it captures the excitement of the Carlton Seven’s rugby tournament in a distinctly Sri Lankan fashion and created tremendous awareness for the game in rural areas ”
The Carlton Sevens Tournament is on from the -26th and 27th of May at Bogambara Grounds in Kandy and 2nd and 3rd of June at Police Park.

St Peters beat Trinity 34-29 in a blockbuster game in Trinity’s own backyard in Kandy to maintain their impressive form this season and inflict the Lions first defeat this season.

Both sides put in a wonderful display of fast open rugby which had the capacity crowd on their toes as the game swung from one side to the other.

The Peterites points came from 4 goals and 2 penalties whilst Trinity had 3 goals and a penalty. The Peterites led 24-17 at half time.

At Ratmalana, the anticipated close tussle did not happen as defending Champions Royal swept past Science College by 32 points to 17. The Royalists maintained control of the game right from the kick off and dominated play with their forwards and back line working well together.

Royal’s points were made up of 2 goals, 3 tries and a penalty to which Science replied with 2 goals and a penalty.

In another game in Kandy, Vidyartha staged a strong second half rally to turn tables on the Josephians to register a 41-31 win.

The Joes had dominated the first half and were leading 19-12 at half time. However after the break Vidyartha looked a completely different side and played some positive rugby to have the Joes rattled.

]]>http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2012/05/13/st-peters-tame-lions-royal-sweep-past-science-vidyartha-prevail-over-st-josephs/feed/0Nov-March Season Among Many Pluses, A Minus Toohttp://www.thesundayleader.lk/2012/03/04/nov-march-season-among-many-pluses-a-minus-too/
http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2012/03/04/nov-march-season-among-many-pluses-a-minus-too/#commentsSat, 03 Mar 2012 18:51:10 +0000Adminhttp://www.thesundayleader.lk/?p=60208NOW that the SLRFU’s executive committee has legislated a new calendar for inter-club competitions, it’ll mean fans will have rugby virtually year round. Traditionally, the club season has been between May and September, and ran concurrently with the inter-schools season.

A local game in progress

As the inter-club season is moved to the November-March period, the schools will have the traditional May to September season all to their own. What this means is rugby goes off the radar for about only three months in the year, as opposed to the traditional seven-month hiatus. The three new off-season months: April, between the club competitions’ closure in March and the start of the schools season in May, and in September and October, betwixt the schools and club seasons.
A nine-month season is inordinately longish to say the least, but, on face value, the extension should not be a bad thing, especially for inter-club rugby. As club games won’t have to compete with school games for audience-interest, the prospect looks good for a recovery in the declining popularity of club rugby. But nine months of rugby presents a danger as well – the danger of too-much-of-one-thing- is-good-for-nothing syndrome setting in. And that isn’t the only potential enemy the November-March club season is likely to encounter.
Long accustomed to a May to September season, viewing rugby between November and March is a new habit that will have to be cultivated, and that is going to take quite some time – and quite some effort, remembering the inherent “distractions” that the month-long Christmas and New Year season bring to society.
Even without such distractions, inter-club seasons of the recent past haven’t attracted the sort of numbers it did. Where fans once flocked by the thousands to pack all four sides of the playing field, these days clubs describe as “bonus” gate-takings derived from a thousand or thereabouts spectators. The erosion of the public’s interest in inter-club tournaments, as all know, was due to a lack of competitiveness, or more pointedly, the unchallenged supremacy of Kandy SC, league and knockout champions for more years than one cares to count.
If the fare is going to be boringly repetitive and predictable, as it had been for the better part of the past two decades (read: since the beginning of Kandy SC’s domination in the early 90s), one fears for the future of the new November-March season. Said simply, if the fare is not going to be anything less than arresting, first season on, the prospect of inter-club matches playing to empty stands becomes very real. After all, between the present hundreds to nearly-nothing is only tip away from the ravine below. That would put the November-March inter-club season in a far worse plight as far as spectator support is concerned.
And sparse crowds over long years are why rugby has fallen on hard times: not just the clubs but the SLRFU itself is in penury. So, if poor fare continues to erode attendance in the November to March season, as it will, the repercussion can be serious. Sponsors, naturally, would be reluctant to invest in a sport that hasn’t public support, a state of affairs which, in these times of professionalism, would be pretty much like directing the game to mortuary’s door.
The advantage of conducing the schools and club seasons at separate times was that all of the resources, in terms of grounds, coaches, referees and fitness gyms (all of which haven’t been in abundance) would become available to both. But there’s a risk factor which proponents of the November-March club season lost sight of. It is an unarguable fact that over quite some seasons schools games have enjoyed a far greater following than club matches – simply because the former dished out fare of a superior quality to the latter, apart from the reason that old boys and students outnumber the collective membership of the competing club. So, after some four-five months of lively inter-school matches, the inter-club tournaments had better provide top drawer stuff. Otherwise, fans are going to be content following just the inter-school season, which is the traditional season anyway –than bother watching rugby in strangely different months, if all it evokes are a few yawns.
There is reason, though, to be hopeful that a doomsday scenario won’t come upon the November-March inter-club season. The hope is born from a greater equality evident in the competition of the past two seasons. The contents of Kandy SC’s trophy cupboard, of course, hadn’t gotten any less than what it was for a decade-plus years. But their walk to the prize table has been less sure-footed; last season was especially gingerly. The Navy repeated their triumph of 2010 over the perennial champions last year as well, and resurgent Havelocks all but overcame Kandy SC in the first round of the 2011 league. The Havelocks, at the bottom of the table in 2010, gave the 2011 season a Cinderella-like twist by defeating high-riding Navy, inflicting on the sailors’ their first loss on home turf in two seasons. The Havelocks, in fact, came within striking distance of the league title more than once. Eventually, it finished third.
For historical reasons CR remains a serious rival of the champion side. Given that Kandy SC’s rise was inspired by some half-dozen defectors from the CR in the early 90s, the ambition of both clubs is not to lose to the other. And although Kandy SC may have had the better of the exchanges, of CR’s ambition has been anything but subdued. The Air Force and the Police, ever the shock makers, can be relied on to pull the rug from under the top teams, as the airmen did last season against the CR. So the ingredients are there for an exciting tournament in the November-March season – except that the 2012 season has to be conducted before the 2013 league is launched in November 2012. And should the last of the May- September tournaments return to its old one-sided ways, then, the promise for closer competition held out by the events of last season might evaporate. Club rugby’s new calendar requires an auspicious launch to give it a hopeful future.
The biggest motivation for shifting the inter-club season to November-March is to make the premier domestic tournaments a useful tool in our preparations for the Asian Five Nations tournament, singly our most crucial international engagement and always held in April. To refresh your minds on the benefits of the November-March season from an international perspective, a reproduction of a passage from this column of Feb.5: By ending the four-month domestic season in March, with the April Asian Five Nations (A5N) looming, would mean that 1/ players are chosen on current form (as opposed to form of half year ago, which is the case in a May-September season); 2/ players will be in prime physical condition and thus 3/ saving time which otherwise would be spent on players’ fitness, so that preparations (for the A5N) can solely focus on gelling fifteen different players into a unit, rehearsing and perfecting tactical ploys and, basically, putting the finishing touches to a team readying for a campaign only weeks away.
It is fair to say that our demotion to the second tier A5N competition after just a year in the top tier and our slide in the Asian Sevens ranking to eleventh, after long being among the top five, are largely due to our domestic season being not in sync with our international programme.
To move the start of the inter-club season to the backend of year and ending it in March of the next year is both an imaginative and brave one. It will contribute significantly to our cause in international rugby, but its role in bringing back the old allure of inter-club rugby remains to be seen. So, let’s not applaud the shift to a November-March season just yet.

IN a move to regain rugby’s lost crowds, clubs are to be allowed two foreign players each in the 2012 A division competitions, scheduled to kick-off in June.
The move follows the partial success achieved last season when the bottom-four clubs of the 2010 league were permitted to field two overseas players. “Allowing weaker teams to field two foreigners last season was to make the tournaments more competitive – and it did. As a result, spectator attendance increased, although not nearly to levels of the 1990s and before,’’ said a Council member. “So in opening all of the clubs’ doors to foreigners, we think, will fill up the rugby grounds.’’
There was, however, some fears expressed that, with all clubs deploying foreigners; tournaments might again produce one-sided matches, as it did in seasons prior to 2011. “(But) with the Forces strengthened and become real contenders, there was not such a great difference in the strengths of the teams last season, so that allowing the foreign-player concession to just the bottom four wouldn’t be fair,’’ said an official.
The impact of the presence of foreign players in weaker teams was reflected vividly in the Havelocks’ performances last season.
The bottom-placed club in 2010 finished third in the last league tournament and semi-finalist in the knockout competition.
There were times in the 2011 season when the Havelocks came within striking distance of the league title – opponents had found the woodenspoonist of 2010 a team to fear in 2011.
There will no restrictions on the number of overseas player a club can recruit, but only two players will be allowed on the field at any given time.
“A club might feel the need for more than two foreigners as it might have three-four positions which local players cannot fill adequately.
So if clubs have the resources, they can have foreign players on the bench and deploy them depending on the need of the moment,’’ said the official.
The Council of the new SLRFU committee in its first meeting, Wednesday, also decided to regularize the player transfer system, which, though introduced a few season ago was implemented haphazardly, if it was implemented at all.
“The transfer system is based on a financial agreement between the player’s present club and the club he wishes to join. That condition was blatantly violated, with clubs dealing directly with individual players. It all became something of a Sunday Pola. To stop this unethical practice, a law firm has been hired to draft players’ contract so that the union will have a solid fool-proof transfer system it can implement,’’ said an official.